A FATHER and daughter killed when the plane they were flying crashed in the Scottish highlands were both over the legal alcohol limit, it has emerged.
A FATHER and daughter killed when the plane they were flying crashed in the Scottish highlands were both over the legal alcohol limit, it has emerged.
Maldon Tory councillor John Smith, his wife Angela and their daughter Jacqueline all died when their Piper Cherokee plane plunged to the ground near Oban in April last year.
Now an Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report has revealed that Mr Smith, 56, who was believed to have been piloting the plane, was five times the alcohol limit for flying the aircraft.
His daughter, in her 20s, thought to be the co-pilot, was more than twice the limit.
The report also blamed poor weather conditions and equipment failure for the crash.
The family, from Burnham-on-Crouch, had travelled flown up to Scotland to celebrate Easter, arriving on Good Friday. The night before returning they had been seen having dinner at a hotel, during which they drank alcohol.
Mr Smith had been a Conservative member of Maldon District Council since the early 1990s.
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